This book suggests that catastrophic climate change in this century can be averted without compromising the world economy.Can catastrophic climate change in this century be averted without strangling the world economy and global aspirations for improved living standards, which depend on the continuing prominence of fossil fuels in the 21st century? "Power Struggle" argues that it can. The solution to the dilemma, argues the author, lies in the commercial development of zero-emission coal plants. Half of all human CO2 emissions originate in 8,000 electric power plants, refineries, steel mills, and other manufacturing facilities around the world. The technology is at hand to capture the CO2 emissions from these big plants and store them permanently and harmlessly in geological traps in the deep ocean instead of releasing them into the atmosphere.Numerous carbon capture and storage technologies are in various stages of experimentation. Although large-scale storage operations are not yet in place anywhere, coal-fired power plants with near-total capture of CO2 emissions will become operational in the U.S. and Western Europe as early as 2012. A second key theme in "Power Struggle" is that unconventional oil and gas are feasible long-term substitutes for conventional oil and gas. A third key contribution of Power Struggle is to demonstrate the tight coupling between energy per capita and real standards of living.